Over the past several years, photosharing has become widely accepted by photo enthusiasts. Many websites currently exist that allow users to upload digital images to the site for storage on a server and for viewing by others over the Internet. To share photos, users must first register on a photosharing website, and create an image album in which to store their images. The user typically selects a theme for the image album and selects one or more images to upload to the site from their PC. The images are then uploaded to a server for storage and associated with the selected album. After creating the image album, the user may optionally rename and/or edit each photo.
The user may then notify others of the album using one of two methods. In the first method, the user sets preferences for the album specifying what users have permission to view the album, and personally informs each person of the web address of the album. In the second and more common method, the user types-in the e-mail addresses of each person the user wants to view the album and the photosharing site automatically sends an e-mail inviting recipients to view the album by clicking on the enclosed URL.
Although the current approach to photosharing works for its intended purpose, there are some areas where the traditional server centric photosharing falls short. For example, users attempting to post images on the site face difficulties in uploading images and organizing the images once on the site. In addition, some users dislike the notion of posting their personal pictures on a public website, even if users are given the option of designating their albums as “private”. Due to these difficulties, users predominantly store the majority of their images on their local PC, and upload only those images that they really wish to share with others. In addition to the problems imposed on users who wish to share images, conventional photosharing sites also impose problems on visitors of the site who wish to view the shared images.
For example, traditional photosharing sites also have a mechanism by which visitors of the site can select images for printing, typically for fee. After selecting the desired pictures to print, the visitor must typically fill-out contact information, including name, shipping address, and credit card information. The site hosting the images or a third party vendor then processes the prints and mails them to the requester via U.S. mail. There are several disadvantages to this process. One disadvantage is that visitors have limited options obtaining prints in any other way. Many sites, for instance, don't provide visitors to high-resolution versions of the images, so visitors can't personally make their prints. Consequently, visitors must pay for the prints. Another disadvantage is that visitors are forced to divulge personal information to websites, exposing themselves to spam email and possible credit card theft.
Accordingly, what is needed is an improved method and system for requesting image prints in an online photosharing system. The present invention addresses such a need.